The Royals affiliates went 5-5 on Tuesday with a doubleheader sweep in Wilmington.
HR Roll Call: Frank Schwindel (20), Brandon Downes (10), Travis Maezes (13), Jonathan McCray (6), Seuly Matias (7), Cal Jones (1)
BP KC Hitter of the Day – Esteury Ruiz 5-5, R, 2b
BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Yender Caramo 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 12-1 GO-FO, 73p/54k
Colorado Springs Sky Sox 3 Omaha Storm Chasers 1
The Chasers once again couldn’t get the offense moving at home, dropping the third game of the four game series with Colorado Springs. The only run came via a Whit Merrifield double in the third inning while Colorado Springs scored three runs off starter Christian Binford to hand him his tenth Triple-A loss. The bullpen whiffed six hitters over the final three innings, but the offense couldn’t get anything moving to drop another game.
Andrew Edwards 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 14p/11k, 1-0 GO-FO
Whit Merrifield 1-4, 2b, RBI
Reymond Fuentes 2-4, 2b, SB (13)
NW Arkansas Naturals 4 Corpus Christi Hooks 1
Starter Yender Caramo had his sinker working Tuesday night, earning 12 ground outs over six innings on the way to a win. First baseman Frank Schwindel rewarded Caramo for his effort with a three-run home run in the third inning. The bullpen finished off the final three innings scoreless as the Naturals increased their lead in the division to 1.5 games with a loss by Arkansas.
Corey Toups 1-2, R, 2b, RBI, 3 BB
Frank Schwindel 1-4, HR, 3 RBI
Mark Peterson 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, Sv (8)
Game 1
Wilmington Blue Rocks 7 Frederick Keys 3
The Rocks powered their way to a game one win. The power came via first baseman Samir Duenez and Brandon Downes, as the pair each drove in two runs during the doubleheader-shortened game. A first inning double by Duenez plated the first run, while Downes scored the second run of the inning on Elier Hernandez’s single. With the game tied at 3-3 in the fifth inning, it was a Duenez single and Downes two-run home run that that quickly pushed Wilmington up 6-3. The runs gave Glenn Sparkman the win, his first win in Wilmington since 2014.
Glenn Sparkman 6 I,P 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 5-5 GO-FO, 69p/56k
Samir Duenez 2-3, R, 2b, 2 RBI, BB
Brandon Downes 2-4, 2R, HR, 2 RBI
Game 2
Wilmington Blue Rocks 3 Frederick Keys 2
The Rocks bullpen combined to limit the Keys to just two runs in Wilmington’s second game win. A foursome lead by Derek Gordon limited the Keys to just a run in the fourth and another in the sixth, both credited to the line of Jake Newberry. A pair of fifth inning singles gave Wilmington the doubleheader sweep, the first from Brian Bien and the second coming off the bat of Elier Hernandez.
Elier Hernandez 2-3, R, RBI
Brian Bien 1-3, RBI
Robert Pehl 2-2, R, 2-2b, BB
Asheville Tourists 6 Lexington Legends 1
The Rockies for a second night in a row used an older pitcher that over-matched the Lexington hitters. The Legends came up with just three hits on the night, only two of which came against 24 year old Drasen Johnson in his six innings. The Legend starter, Gerson Garabito, couldn’t match the effort, giving up three runs in five innings, while walking four and giving up six hits. Reliever Daniel Concepcion also gave up three runs in his two innings while Lexington’s only run came on a Travis Maezes solo home run.
Travis Maezes 1-4, HR
Chase Vallot 0-2, 2BB
Jecksson Flores 1-3
Game 1
Burlington Royals 6 Johnson City Cardinals 2
The Royals pounded out six of their twelve hits in the second and third innings to plate all six of their runs and go onto a game one win. Second baseman Jonathan McCray connected on his sixth home run of the year in that second inning to give Burlington a 2-0 lead. One inning later an error with the bases loaded pushed two runs across before Nathan Esposito’s double scored a run to push their lead to 6-0. Former Alabama pitcher Geoffrey Bramblett tossed the first five innings with just one run allowed before turning things to Alex Close who finished off the final two innings.
Geoffrey Bramblett 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 6-3 GO-FO
Gabriel Cancel 3-4, 2R, 2b
Jonathan McCray 2-3, 2R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Game 2
Johnson City Cardinals 3 Burlington Royals 1
The Royals squandered an opportunity at multiple runs in the fifth inning, while the Cardinals did not in the second game loss. Trailing 1-0, the Royals first three hitters reached base with a double sandwiched around a pair of singles. Unfortunately Gabriel Cancel was tossed out at the plate on Jonathan McCray’s double which limited the Royals to just one run in the inning. The Cardinals quickly answered in their half of the fifth, getting a big two out bases-loaded single to put up a 3-1 lead. The Royals would bring the tying run to the plate in both of their final two innings but couldn’t get anything done.
Jonathan McCray 1-3, R, 2b
Chase Livingston 1-3, RBI
Vance Tatum 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 0-2 GO-FO
Billings Mustangs 3 Idaho Falls Chukars 1
The Chukars offense once again was silent in a road game in Billings. For the second night in a row Idaho Falls was limited to just three hits, going 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position in the loss. The pitching staff gave up 11 hits of their own, but limited the damage to just three runs in dropping another road game.
David Edwards 2-3 2-2b
Yeison Melo 1-3 BB
Reinaldo Cepin 4 IP 6 H 2 R 2 ER 1 Bb 2 K
AZL Royals 9 AZL Mariners 7
A 7-2 deficit wasn’t too much for the Royals to overcome on Tuesday night thanks to some big power by a couple of a young hitters. The score stood at 7-2 after five innings after Anthony Bender was touched up for five runs in his two innings on six hits and reliever Colton Howell gave up two more. Then, the Royals Seuly Matias blasted a grand slam to pull within the game within a run. The Royals weren’t done in that frame loading the bases again ahead of a walk by Cal Jones to tie the game up at 7-7. The game would stay tied until the bottom of the eighth when Jones would connect on his first pro home run to push the Royals up 9-7 and give the squad a comeback win.
Cal Jones 2-4, 2R, HR, 3 RBI, BB
Seuly Matias 1-2, HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB
Jeison Guzman 3-5, 2R, 2-2b
DSL Red Sox1 2 DSL Royals 1 F/11
The Royals lost a pitching duel in extras despite a five hit day from Esteury Ruiz. Just one other hit on the day for the squad besides Ruiz and an 0-4 performance with runners in scoring position cost the Royals to drop another game to the first place Red Sox.
Andres Martin 1-5, CS (3)
Luis Alcantara 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Yarelmy Garcia 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K